Larry Marshall: One of Reggae's True Foundation Figures By James Dutton

London, February 2002: Larry Marshall is one of reggae's true foundation figures. His expressive and easily identifiable voice has graced a number of the music's most timeless classics, and his time spent as house engineer at London's Studio One gave shape to some of the most electrifying sounds of the early 1970s. It is the depth of feeling permeating his songs that really makes Larry's music so outstanding, and his coaching of most of the key figures of the roots era makes his contribution all the more important.
Born Fitzroy Marshall on December 17, 1941, in the district of Lawrence Hall in rural St. Anne, Larry first discovered singing through his mother Amanda.
"If you hear my mother sing, it's sweet like a bird. Sometimes when my mother's at home sewing clothes and me's a likkle boy, I don't want to leave my mother because she have some melodies in her that she come up with, and it's like she force them into me."
From age five to seven, Marshall lived with his father in the heart of downtown Kingston, where he was fascinated by the foreign music he heard on radio. Returning to St. Anne to attend school, he was given further encouragement to sing by a music teacher named Miss Christian.
In 1957, Marshall joined a cousin in Graham Heights, near the northern Kingston neighbourhood of Barbican, where he initially found work as a gardener. In 1960 he made his performing debut at the Ward Theatre, backed by the respected Rhythm Aces band; his success at the contest won him a five shilling prize. Word of his vocal skills spread around the neighbourhood, and when singers Ferdie Nelson and Joe Henry told Top Deck label boss Philip Yap about Marshall, Yap arranged for Larry to make his recording debut with a song called "Too Young To Love."
As Marshall noted, "It was 1962, that is before independence when I record my song with a company named Top Deck from Barbican. It was down by Federal studio, that's where we do our first recording, a song named 'Too Young To Love.' It have a Ben E King background (based on the melody of 'Stand By Me'); the people just go wild and the guy sell it to some people in Trinidad--the people them love the song and they just buy it from him."
In 1963, Marshall passed an audition at Studio One and scored a minor hit with the original "Please Stay." He returned to Yap's stable in November 1964 to record a duet with Ferdie Nelson, "A Promise Is A Comfort To A Fool." Larry's first big hit came with a cover of popular American tune "Snake In The Grass," issued by Top Deck in 1965. He also recorded a duet with Jackie Opel for the company, but left the label for good after being disappointed with the meagre payment he received for the "Snake" hit.
Coxsone Dodd then tried to place him in the lineup of the Checkmates group, but he was unhappy with the situation and began recording for Prince Buster instead.
"1967 was a time when I do some songs with Coxsone, I think about three songs with a group he want to call Checkmates. Him want to place them name 'pon my music and me never did want that, so me resent them things and me move away from him. Me don't have no part of business in no group named Checkmates, so me go to Buster now and sing for Buster."
Of the handful of singles Marshall cut for the Prince, "I've Got Another Girl" proved to be the most successful; Marshall also noted that he contributed harmony to several of Buster's own works. "A whole heap of tune me do backing with Buster, like 'Dark End of the Street' and 'Judge Dread,' the harmony inna it is me and Scully and Sticky."
Dissatisfaction with a lack of official credit for "I've Got Another Girl" saw Larry move away from Buster to re-cut "Please Stay" and other material for Clancy Eccles, before settling into a long period of engagement at Studio One. In 1968-69, Marshall recorded a string of outstanding singles in collaboration with Alvin Leslie, a friend from Barbican who was associated with the King Victor sound system. "Nanny Goat" pointed the way to the new reggae beat; "Mean Girl" and "Your Love" held intensely emotional performances, while the rhythm of the proverbial "Throw Me Corn" proved as individual and infectious as that of "Nanny Goat."
As Marshall turned his focus back to propagating his solo career, he became an instrumental force in changing the face of reggae through his engineering work and coaching of other artists at Studio One.
"When me work at Coxsone, I sit down and record many artists before them bust out. I inspirate Burning Spear to come, because me do a show with Jackie Mittoo in 1969 down at St. Anne's Bay, and I meet the Burning Spear 'round the beach where him rest. Him start to sing and him say to me he would like to come inna the business but him no know how fe really attack it, so me say 'All right, come a Studio One, come check me.' Them time there, me and Sylvain Morris run Studio One; I was his assistant operator then. I-man sit down and tape Freddy McKay's 'Picture On The Wall' and 'Skylarking' with Horace Andy, and me record most of the Wailing Souls' album. Dennis Brown come and me and Alton Ellis coach him; I sit down with Culture and Gregory Isaacs too."
Albert Griffiths of the Gladiators, the young Jacob Miller and Eric Donaldson also benefited from Larry's wisdom in this period.
By the end of 1973, disputes over royalties and other growing tensions resulted in Larry Marshall's departure from Studio One. The classic singles 'I Admire You' and 'Can't You Understand' were then issued on Carl Patterson's Black and White label (both with stunning dub versions by King Tubby), but further financial disputes led Larry to venture more fully into self-production through the formation of the Amanda label and completion of the I Admire You album. Released in small quantities by Larry in Jamaica and in the UK on the Java label in 1975, I Admire You was a collection of finely crafted songs with attentive musical arrangements and superb vocal deliveries--a nicely balanced mixture of ballads and reality tunes.

Motion records of Southwest London, England has started a Larry Marshall Fund to help the ailing singer. People can either send donations via Paypal (if they are members) to paypal@motionrecords.com stating that it is for the Larry Marshall appeal.
They can also send cash ($ or £) to us at:46a Crockerton Rd, London SW17 7HG, UK
They can also send £UK cheques written out to 'Motion Records' to the above address. Or they can send us $US cheques written out to 'Franklyn Marshall' for us to pass on. Or if people prefer they can send the money directly to Larry.